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James Granger (1723–1776)[]

There was a real Muggle pastor James Granger, and Wikipedia says about him: “Granger was an early advocate of animal rights.” S.P.E.W. as his inheritance? Specifically, this story is too good to pass:

In 1772, Granger preached a sermon against cruelty to animals. However, during the eighteenth century the subject of humane treatment to animals was deemed beneath the Church and was considered abuse of the pulpit. The sermon caused an “almost universal disgust to two considerable congregations”, as mention of dogs and horses was regarded as a “prostitution of the dignity of the pulpit”. Granger went to prison for preaching twice against cruelty to animals.

The sermon was published as An Apology for the Brute Creation (1772). In his day, the sermon was unpopular and only one hundred copies had been sold by January, 1773. However, it was positively reviewed in the Monthly Review and the Critical Review as a sensible discourse. The sermon influenced Arthur Broome, one of the founders of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

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